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Re: US Navy mascots

Hello Grower,
My father is a US Navy WWII veteran. I asked him about this after seeing your post. He said they had a monkey on board their ship for a while as a mascot. He said many of the ships had monkeys for mascots because the natives on the islands would give them away to the sailors. He thinks that they got their mascot in New Guinea but is not positive.
But, according to my father, the monkey got "ferocious" because of too much attention and bit a sailor, then it was tossed overboard as its penalty. (My father wasn't the one to throw it overboard.)

Last edited by navyson; 04-12-2010 at 07:58 AM.
Reason: clarification

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - Ronald Reagan

Re: US Navy mascots

Originally Posted by navyson

He thinks that they got their mascot in New Guinea but is not positive.

They might have got it there in a trade with someone who brought it there from somewhere else, but I think that monkeys are not native to New Guinea. I can't recall any reference to monkeys in any of my fairly extensive readings of Australian and American campaigns there.

Although given the way the country's been run since being given independence from Australia several decades ago, I'm willing to accept that it's run by monkeys. (Yeah, that makes me a fascist racist for daring to say that the place is a fairly lawless shithole, like a lot of other former European/ Western colonies around the planet given independence and which on a scale of 1 to 10 are run somewhere between 2 and minus a gazillion.)

Originally Posted by navyson

But, according to my father, the monkey got "ferocious" because of too much attention and bit a sailor, then it was tossed overboard as its penalty. (My father wasn't the one to throw it overboard.)

This was the standard and accepted naval penalty for animals which harmed the crew, as exemplified in the following verse from The Good Ship Venus.

The ship's dog's name was Rover,
The whole crew did him over.
They all got pox
Upon their cocks.
So overboard went Rover.

Re: US Navy mascots

This was the standard and accepted naval penalty for animals which harmed the crew, as exemplified in the following verse from The Good Ship Venus.

The ship's dog's name was Rover,
The whole crew did him over.
They all got pox
Upon their cocks.
So overboard went Rover.

Eww... Something to be said about women in the military nowadays. (Tongue in cheek)

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - Ronald Reagan

Re: US Navy mascots

Well, I didn't know we were in the quiz section. But I did talk to my father and that's what he told me. So, I'll go with what he said. I'm sure there were many more mascots than just monkeys on board the ships considering the hundreds if not thousands of vessels.

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - Ronald Reagan